Russia withdrawing its military bases from Cuba

The following statement was issued by the Government of Cuba on October 
17. In view of its far-reaching significance it is republished in full.

Numerous international press agencies reported today (October 17) that the 
President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, declared that as of 
January 2002, his country would close its military Electronic Radar 
Stations in Cam Ranh, Vietnam and Lourdes, Cuba.

With regard to Cuba, he stated that "after lengthy negotiations with our 
Cuban partners, it was recognised that withdrawing the Electronic Radar 
Station from Cuba would be a positive move."

Also today, the chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, 
Army Commander Anatoly Kvashnin, declared that "Russia is withdrawing its 
military bases from Cuba and Vietnam as a result of the change in the 
military-political situation in the world, and in view of the savings in 
financial resources for the army and navy.

"The annual lease on the Electronic Radar Station is around US$200 million, 
without taking into account the maintenance of staff. With this money we 
can buy and launch 20 reconnaissance satellites, and purchase around 100 
radars."

To avoid any errors or confusion, the Government of Cuba would like to 
clarify that the two facilities should not have been lumped together in the 
Russian declaration, because they differ greatly in their origins, 
functions and importance.

Cam Ranh was a naval base built by the United States some 20 thousand 
kilometers away from its territory and leased to the USSR in 1979, years 
after the war had ended. It is of barely any use for a country like Russia, 
which has had practically no surface vessel fleet since the demise of the 
Soviet Union.

At this moment, Vietnam faces no danger of military aggression from the 
United States since relations between the two countries are normal. For 
Vietnam, the United States poses no risk whatsoever. There can be no doubt 
that the decision was previously discussed and approved by both countries.

The Lourdes Electronic Radar Station was established in 1964, two years 
after the Missile Crisis. The USSR did not pay a cent for the services it 
received from Cuba, in view of the close cooperation between the two 
countries at that time in both the economic and military fields.

In 1992, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when the Russian 
Federation fully assumed the rights and privileges of the former Union, 
Russia unilaterally withdrew the military brigade that had remained in Cuba 
after the Missile Crisis for a period of some 30 years, all this as a 
result of negotiations and agreements with the United States.

At the same time, however, Russia expressed interest in maintaining the 
Lourdes Electronic Radar Station as an important element for its strategic 
security, particularly as a means of verifying strict compliance with the 
agreements on nuclear disarmament and nuclear weapons reduction adopted by 
the United States and Russia.

Violation of agreements

Despite flagrant violations of agreements, economic losses and risks faced 
by Cuba, our government allowed the facility to stay with no charge 
whatsoever for the services that our country provided to Russia.

This was the case for a certain period of time only, given that there was 
no longer the slightest political or ideological connection between Cuba 
and Russia.

The leaders of Russia had unilaterally destroyed all of the agreements 
between the two countries. There was absolutely no reason left to provide 
it with free services of any kind.

Russia's reiterated interest in maintaining, expanding and modernising the 
Lourdes Electronic Radar Station, for the reasons mentioned above, led to 
an agreement which included payment to Cuba in Russian commodities or hard 
currency in exchange for the services provided to the station.

That payment totalled US$90 million in 1992, 160 million from 1993 to 1995, 
and the 200 million mentioned by Army Commander Anatoly Kvashnin from 1996 
to2000.

This sum is not at all extraordinary when one considers that it is barely 3 
per cent of the damage caused to our country's economy by the 
disintegration of the socialist bloc and the USSR and the unilateral 
annulment of all agreements.

At the same time, Cuba benefited from some of the information obtained 
related to our own country's security.

The United States has relentlessly pressured Russia over the existence of 
this facility, despite the fact that the United States itself has 
maintained a military base in our territory for over 100 years now, against 
our people' s will.

Putin said:

During President Vladimir Putin's visit to Cuba in December of 2000, the 
heads of state of our two countries spent several hours at the station on 
December 14.

Not a word was said about its closure. On the contrary, there was talk of 
further developing and modernising it.

President Putin literally said that day; "Russia and Cuba are interested in 
continuing to foster its activity. It has been fully functioning for some 
time, in accordance with international standards and regulations. It has 
done so successfully, and Russia and Cuba declare themselves as countries 
interested in continuing to foster its activity."

At that time, only minor differences emerged between the Cuban and Russian 
military authorities involved, since the Russians desired to reduce, by a 
relatively small margin, the economic compensation paid to Cuba. This had 
become customary every year during the reviews of the Russian side's 
repeated failure to meet its obligations.

Months later, a curious change was observed in Russia's policy towards the 
Lourdes Electronic Radar Station.

This took the form of non-compliance with its financial obligations, 
resulting in an accumulation of unfulfilled payments, and unjustifiable and 
exaggerated demands for a reduction in the amount paid for services 
rendered, despite the threefold increase in the price of oil, one of 
Russia's main exports, and an obvious improvement in the Russian economy, 
reflected by the growth of its reserves from some US$12 billion to over 30 
billion, among other factors.

It was at this stage that the current international crisis broke out, 
creating considerable tension throughout the world.

There had been, at all times, contacts and fluid, friendly relations 
between our two governments, despite the fact that they have adopted rather 
different positions.

Cuba is opposed to terrorism and opposed to the war, while Russia has 
offered broad support and cooperation for the war unleashed by the United 
States.

But, both fully agree on the fight against terrorism and the need for the 
United Nations to play its role.

The negotiations we have been carrying out with regard to the Lourdes 
Electronic Radar Station have yet to be concluded.

Yesterday, October 16,at 2:00 p.m., we had not reached an agreement.

A special envoy urgently proposed the closing of the station. Our response 
was that this would be a most untimely measure to adopt.

At this very moment, the US government's stance is more aggressive and 
belligerent than ever, many countries are threatened in light of the US 
president's speech on September 20, and military operations have already 
begun in Afghanistan.

Under such circumstances, the withdrawal of the station would be a message 
and a concession to the government of the United States, which would 
constitute a grave threat to Cuba's security, and therefore we were not in 
agreement with its closure.

Just last night, we addressed the issue once again, putting forward a great 
many arguments with the Russian envoy, who had requested an urgent meeting.

This envoy had brought another message from the Russian president, 
proposing something even worse: the advisability of publicly and 
immediately declaring that the agreement on the Lourdes Electronic Radar 
Station was cancelled.

We responded that we were in absolute disagreement, and proposed that they 
study other options.

We noted that they have a reputation for being good chess players, and were 
therefore aware that there were a hundred other moves they could make, and 
not just the one they were proposing.

Russia's urgency, it was explained, stemmed from their wish for President 
Putin to meet President Bush at the Asia-Pacific Cooperation Forum in 
Shanghai bearing these two pieces of news.

It is easy to understand how much they would please their recipient: the 
one regarding Cam Ranh, although unimportant in reality, is highly 
symbolic; the one concerning Cuba would be a special gift.

Consequently, the agreement on the Lourdes Electronic Radar Station has not 
been cancelled, since Cuba has not given its approval. Russia shall 
continue negotiating with the Cuban government, given that there are still 
important issues to resolve with regard to the matter.

Unfortunately, perhaps President Putin, because of the time difference, did 
not have a chance to hear our well-founded arguments and suggestions on the 
matter in time, before making his public announcement.

Still, Cuba holds him and the enormous State of Russia in great esteem and 
deep respect.

For this reason, Cuba will refrain for the moment from making any judgments 
or criticisms regarding what was announced today by the press agencies.

It will simply limit itself to offering absolutely factual information to 
our people, and to hoping that this disagreement can be resolved in a 
reasonable, fair and honorable manner.

There is something that should be clearly understood by everyone, and on 
which no one should entertain false illusions. In Cuba there is not and 
there never will be either panic or fear. This is the perfect atmosphere 
for serenity, cool-headed wisdom, integrity, dignity, and unlimited 
courage.

The Government of the Republic of Cuba
Havana, October 17, 2001